Barrtalk: It's time to ban school homework [my kids will love this one]!

I saw a beleaguered person had a ‘Rant Alert’ [their words, not mine] on Facebook recently about the thorny subject of school homework, which has resumed once again after the summer recess.

It was a brief social media post, with a parent ‘ranting’ about the endless and pointless grind of trying to get their kid to do their homework after school every day.

I feel their pain.

I have long suspected that homework is an unnecessary cruelty, which serves only to make children dread additional learning and education.

The parent pointed out how children already spend six hours a day or more on their education during class time, so surely that’s more than enough, rather than penalising them with more drudgery at home time.

And make no mistake, homework is presented as a penalty: 'You’ll get no homework if you’re good, but extra if you’re bad.'

I was above average intelligence at school [obviously!] but I HATED homework and always went out of my way at Carndonagh Community School to try to make sure I sneakily completed it during school hours, rather than leaving it to hometime.

Imagine the uproar if us parents had to do a full day’s work at the office [or wherever else we toil] and then go home afterwards, only to have to face into another hour or more of work tasks. I don't think so.

There would be talk of cruel and unusual punishments and contraventions of the Geneva Convention, not to mention the Labour Relations Agency!

In all seriousness, our kids – either primary or secondary – learn plenty much at school as it is. There really is no need to pile on the work [and the pressure] in the evening as well.

It’s high time we eradicated this outdated practice that benefits no one.

[PS: My two schoolboy sons are hoping this humble article will somehow reach its way to the office of the Taoiseach – or the Minister for Education, at least – and Barrtalk’s homework ban proposal can then begin to take effect for real. Stranger things have happened, I told them.]

Barrtalk catches out A.I. again

For those who think Artificial Intelligence is the future, here’s a cautionary tale.

Out of curiosity, I delved into the A.I. world and asked chatGPT a very simple question: ‘Who is Caoimhinn Barr?’.

After the usual blurb about the subject [ie: me] being a highly-respected regional journalist [coughs], I read on in horror. Here’s the direct quote from A.I. in the ensuing paragraph.

“Caoimhinn Barr has also penned opinion pieces. For example, he authored a piece in the Inishowen Independent calling to “legalise drugs and decriminalise users,” showcasing his willingness to engage in broader social and policy conversations.”

Like most A.I., it sounds good and it’s very well-written with no spelling errors; Just one problem: it’s utterly false.

I’m absolutely NOT in favour of legalising drugs and, even if I were, I certainly wouldn’t espouse such views in the poor old Indo newspaper.

It turns out, the artificially-generated quote was referring to a 2010 article I did with a Carndonagh man, who had suggested that drugs be decriminalised.

He was a member of Ireland’s newest political party at the time: Fis Nua (New Vision).

Not sure if Fis Nua is still a thing these days? Maybe, I should ask A.I.!

The Irish Traitors

NON-SPOILER ALERT: Don’t worry I won’t give anything away. I don’t know anything anyway. Feel free to read on if you’re watching.

I caught up with the first episode-and-a-half of 'The Traitors' on RTE at the weekend, and I have to say I’m pretty impressed.

I usually fear for Irish spin-offs of British shows, of which The Traitors is one, but I have to credit the producers for doing a good job here.

I’m not entirely convinced about 'Derry Girls' head nun Siobhan McSweeney in the presenter’s spot. She’s a bit over the top and predictable for my money – I’m hearing strong hints of Anne Robinson on the Weakest Link – but other than that, the show looks more than promising so far.

As with all these reality programmes, it’s the weird and wonderful not-so-ordinary contestants who are the stars anyway – and the early signs are that they won’t disappoint.

The Irish 'traitors' seem a good more laid back and better craic than their BBC counterparts across the sea. Who’d have thought!

There’s even a girl from Letterkenny in it to further pique our interest up here in Donegal [though she may well have been voted out by episode 2 or 3 for all I know].

Anyway, The Traitors will likely rumble on for much of the rest of the month, and it’s well worth a watch if you’re stuck.

Everyone’s talking about it anyway, so you may as well join the conversation.

READ NEXT: One F in Foley: Should Media Studies become a school subject?

Comedy’s alive and well

And finally this week, let’s end on an upbeat note.

The Edinburgh Fringe – an annual comedy festival in Scotland – took place a few weeks back. The festival used to always declare the winner of its best joke, and last year’s winner by Mark Simmons was a cracker: ‘I was going to sail around the globe in the world’s smallest ship, but I bottled it.’

Alas, the powers-that-be in Edinburgh have binned the Best Joke award this year, but thankfully our friends at the Guardian newspaper have selected the best ten anyway.

Here’s Barrtalk’s top three from that.

Olaf Falafel: ‘We named our children War and Peace – it’s a long story.’

Amelia Hamilton: ‘I love getting Latin chat-up lines. I carpe every DM.’

And my personal favourite is by Chris Grace: ‘I went on a date with a matador but there were too many red flags.’